Historically, certain types of gaming have been conducted with controlled environments such as casinos, card rooms, or similar gaming establishments. Offering games of chance in controlled environments allows the gaming establishment to verify a player's identity, age, etc.
However, in recent years, a number of gaming establishments have begun providing some games of chance to users who are located in uncontrolled environments, such as the user's home, a hotel room, etc. These gaming establishments will be referred to herein as “Internet casinos,” although those of skill in the art will realize that Internet casinos are not casinos in a traditional sense and that Internet casinos may be accessed via networks other than the Internet. Typically, Internet casinos are groups of network devices (e.g., servers) that are configured to conduct games of chance, such as blackjack, video poker, etc., by interacting with a host device over a public network such as the Internet. This process will be referred to herein as “Internet gaming,” whether or not the public network is the Internet and whether or not the gaming activity spans a state's border. The host device may be a gaming kiosk, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, or another such host device.
Currently, federal law prohibits the offering of casino and sports wagers to residents of the United States across state lines via telephone or the Internet. The public policy grounds for these legal prohibitions include the difficulty in determining a player's identity and age, as well as determining whether the player is located in a jurisdiction within which such wagers would be permitted if made in person. However, it is anticipated that Internet gaming will eventually be offered within certain jurisdictions (e.g., within the state of Nevada) and possibly between jurisdictions that allow gaming. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide improved systems for determining the identity, age and location of a player who desires to participate in Internet gaming.